By Betty Boyd, Military Affairs Committee
We are pleased to feature Keri Serrano and Every Kid Counts Nevada in the Q3 MAC profile. In May of this year, Serrano was asked by the parent company of Every Kid Counts (EKC) everykidcounts.org which has served the Phoenix area for 25 years, to bring Every Kid Counts to Nevada. Serrano recently transitioned from the corporate sector where she served as a global corporate social responsibility director for an international time-share company. In addition, Serrano has also recently taken the position of operations manager for a professional cleaning services company in Las Vegas, Happy Home Cleaners, which also has a charitable arm.
Every Kid Counts Nevada recently held an event “Stuff the Pack.” Thanks to their generous donors including the Lions Club, the Las Vegas Aloha Kiwanis Club, AE&ES https://www.ae-es.com and Ship Las Vegas https://shiplasvegas.as com, the organization gave out 200 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to students, along with homemade masks made by generous and dedicated volunteers.
For this effort, Every Kid Counts Nevada partnered with the Nellis Area Spouses Club – Home, which had identified a need for backpacks and school supplies even while it was still unclear as to what the school year would look like, parents (including some who are teachers and military spouses) felt it was imperative that their children go through the process of gearing up for school whether they were schooled at home or in a classroom.
The spouses’ club designed a flyer and sent it out to all active military families in Las Vegas including Nellis, Creech, and active National Guard. Almost immediately 200 families signed up! As the demand then grew (fairly quickly to near 500!), word spread and Serrano had an opportunity to partner with military leadership at Nellis, who then implemented another drive on base; Serrano sits on the Nellis Civic Leader Program and engaged with the Nellis Public Affairs Office to better identify what the needs were. Shortly thereafter, an additional not-for-profit jumped in and helped pull together a drive specifically for National Guard and Reserve families.
The overall effort between all parties resulted in the distribution of 1,000 backpacks filled with supplies to our military kids! Kayla Clark, the President of the Nellis Spouse Club “thanked everyone for what they are doing for helping military families who were hit hard this year, as many families have been, due to COVID-19. Especially military spouses who used to work but now cannot work as they need to focus on schooling their kids at home. Having the backpacks stuffed with supplies provides both materials and a mindset for kids that despite the pandemic conditions, it’s time to go back to school.” This is the new normal!
For over 25 years Every Kid Counts has been dedicated to helping children by bringing hearts together to help provide programs that help today’s youth become tomorrow’s leaders.
Every Kid Counts Nevada is the newest branch of Every Kid Counts. We want to bring the same devotion and help to our state as EKC has brought to Arizona for over 25 years. Serrano can be reached at Keri@everykidcountsnv.org or 702.701.1524.
So, what’s next? We are currently working on bringing virtual athletic events to kids in Nevada, especially those who are schooling from home. Parents across the country are attempting to find new ways to keep their children physically active in the wake of lengthy school closures and stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Exercise is especially important for kids during the COVID-19 pandemic because it can reduce stress, prevent weight gain, and boost the immune system. Parents can safely promote physical activity by making exercise a family activity, encouraging outdoor play, using online videos or virtual classes, creating fitness challenges, and assigning calorie-burning chores.
Keri Serrano, we salute your efforts in striving to help all kids! For more information, visit
everykidcountsnv.org
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